The Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG) embarked on a business development mission to Brazil in July as part of its ongoing efforts to promote Namibia as the preferred and shortest trade route into southern Africa.
The mission’s goal was to engage the Brazilian business community, ports, shipping lines, freight forwarders, and industries to explore opportunities Namibia can provide as a supply chain solution for the Brazilian market, Namports Quayside bulletin released this week said.
According to the bulletin, the two-week engagements concluded successfully with an information-sharing session in São Paulo, Brazil. The session, titled “Positioning Walvis Bay as Brazil’s Preferred Trade Route,’ highlighted the advantages of using the Ports of Walvis Bay and Lüderitz and thus by extension the Walvis Bay Corridors.
At the information sharing session, Mbapeua Muvangua, Namibia’s Ambassador to Brazil, stated that such engagements are critical in expanding areas of collaboration for the mutual benefit of Brazil and Namibia.
“The promotion of trade, investment, and economic cooperation should continue to be given higher emphasis in this situation. Stronger cooperation in other areas of our economies should be encouraged by the positive bilateral and diplomatic relations between our two nations. Furthermore, I want to reassure you that our two nations have already signed several general framework agreements for cooperation in a variety of fields. These agreements should function as a catalyst for our two nations’ sectors to finalize their sector-specific agreements and memoranda of understanding, further enhancing and elevating the level of cooperation between Brazil and Namibia to greater heights,” said Amb. Muvangua.
According to Mbahupu Tjivikua, Chief Executive Officer of the WBCG, frozen meat, chicken, and pork products, as well as sugar and household materials are among the commodities currently imported from Brazil via the Port of Walvis Bay.
Tjivikua is confident that the engagements will yield positive results in the future as Namibia is the shortest trade route connecting the Brazilian and southern African markets, to attract a variety of other commodities such as soybeans, maize, corn, beans, wheat, malt, paper, casava, cooking oil, fruits and vegetables, as well as tires.
“These engagements also provide an opportunity for the two countries to capitalize on the benefits of the preferential trade agreement between the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur),” stated Mr. Tjivikua.
The establishment of the WBCG forms part of the Namport Regional Trade Plan which was approved in 2000. The Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG) is tasked with promoting the utilisation of Namibia’s transport corridors – thereby increasing cargo for ports and corridors linked to it and engaging in the facilitation of corridor and infrastructure development.
Subsequently, in 2012 the WBCG Brazil Office, represented by Business Development Representative Ricardo Latkani was opened in São Paulo, to raise awareness and actively promote the use of the Namibian ports and the Walvis Bay Corridors, for imports and exports between South America and southern Africa.
Source article: Namibia Economist
